The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1887-04-14
MOOSE HUNTING.
ONE MAN DOES THE WORK WHILE
THE OTHER SEES THE FUN.

lite VI TEN OEcS tHG FON.
Pleasures of Hunting by Jack Light.
How the Moose, Feeding by Night
Becomes the Prey of the Hunter.
After the Shot.
The moose seeks his food where the yell
low water lily is found. 1t is not, how
ever, the leaves nor the blossoms which
are sought, but the roots. These extend
in a perfect network through the mud in
which they grow, attaining thickness
exceeding a mans arm and an indefinite
length There is no disputing about
tastes, and consequently we will not
Criticise the moose for being so fond of
this vegetable. But to the human palate
it is dry, insipid and puckery. To obtain
this he will wade out into the water ana
souse his head beneath the surface until
even his cars are submerged. Then hav-
ing wrenched chunk of greater or less
length from its bed, he withdraws his
head, and, dripping water from each OF
the numerous angles which characterize
his ugly physiognomy, he stands the
picture of pure animal enjoyment, chew
ing away at one end OF the root, while the
other sticks out of his mouth like cigar
70 catch him in the middle of this per-
formance is the constant burden of the
hunters prayers.
Should the night promise to be still,
warm and dark, the hunter scours the re-
Hector of his jack until it shines like sill
yer, and breathes upon and wipes its glass
lens until it is speckless. The lamp within
should emit a powerful light, but the cas-
ing must he so constructed that not the
f,;n iii
is required and a hinged cover, which
caps the glass, is dropped.
In this. rs in most other forms of moose
hunting, two foln the company-one to
do the work while the other takes in the
fun-and, rs in many other things in this
life, ultimate success depends more on
the skill of the former than on that of the
latter.
After the jack has been Lit some twenty
minutes, so that the maximum OF light
possible without smoke is assured, the
pair betake themselves to the canoe.
Blankets are spread on the bottom of the
boat to deaden any motion of the feet.
He who is to shoot seats himself in the
bow, while his companion first wraps him
in blankets and then arranges the jack.
This is best suspended from a frame be-
hind the rifieman; but it should be so
connected with his head that the beam of
light will follow its every motion when
the jack is open. With the glass uncov-
cred. the rifle is thrown to the shoulder,
and the connection of the jack with the
headgear is so adjusted that when the
most convenient aim is taken it will be
directly in the center of illumination.
Thus both sights of the rifle are perfectly
visible, and the difficulty is no longer to
H. h,rf 1x,lx 20 oh osv,
sufficiently distinct view of the object to
he hit.
When this is complete the other takes
his place in the stern folds his blanket
over his lap, and, grasping his paddle,
pushes from the bank. The jack is then
closed, and complete darkness and silence
follow.
AS noiseless as the shadow of q cloud,
the canoe steals along, and hour after
hour its occupants, relying solely on the
sense of hearing, strain every nerve to de-
teCt an indication of the near neighbor-
hood of the game they seek.
At last comes slow and measured sound
-slosh slOsh, slosh; and then all is still
again. The heart of the hunter shrivels
within him to the size of lemon, and
flies into his throat, where it keeps up
such q humping that it seems impossible
that the noise should escape the quick car
of the game. With the utmost caution
the rifle is brought to the full cock, and
the left hand freed, ready to open the jack
Mt the preconcerted signal, which it is the
duty'of the paddler TO give.
Every ache and pain is at once forgotten
in the all absorbing question, VIII he re-
main in the water or take to the bank,
and, burying himself in the woods, escape'
For he is still far beyond the range of the
jack, and not till it will surely show him
up must it be opened. If the motion Of
the canoe was slow before, it seems doubly
so now, and minute after minute, each ap-
parently an hour, drags on, and still the
noise. repeated at intervals, seems no
nearer.
AT length, after seemingly endless de-
lay, comes the signal to open the jack,
and the light streams forth. There he
stands, mid leg deep in the water, dim,
ShadOwy and monstrous, his eyes glaring
green in the light, with the malevolence of
II demon. He will stay but for a second,
and only TO decide which way to retreat
Raise the rife slowly, but lose no time.
Draw as careful bead as though shoot
ing at II twO-inch bulls eye, and give it to
linn right through-not behind-the mid
die of the fore shoulder. For second the
smoke obscures the result. Is he down or
up In either case, dose him again if you
ran: but if you cannot, close the jack at
once. Now is no time to ask your COM
paniun: Do you think hit him? If you
were silent before, be doubly so now, and
listen. Docs he burst into and tear
through the woods as though he had gone
into the kindling wood business and was
laying in Il winters stock, and do you
hear him crashing and smashing until the
sound dies away on the distant mountain
side? 1t was q clear miss, or at best a
Craze. But no; the uproar dies away and
n silence you can almost feel ensues.
What sound is that from the neighboring
woods There he is! You can hear him
breathe and wheeze at every inspiration.
it is well. The shot was q little too far
back, but it was pretty well placed all the
same. Now withdraw with the stiffness
of death itself, and not until at least
half n mile intervenes whisper to your
companion: "Wcll, 1 guess that's our
meat; what do you think2'
For if from any act of yours he discov-
ers what has hurt him, particularly if you
attempt to land, he will either attack at
once, in which case you will be in desperate
peril, or he will travel till he drops, perhaps
miles and miles away, and the foxes and
other marauders of the forest alone will
profit by his death. Whereas if you leave
him TO attribute his distress to stroke Of
lightning or u fit of indigestion, or TO any
cause other than the agency of man, you
will find him in the morning, if not lying
dead, where you last heard him, at all
events so enfeebled that you may still
hunt him with the certainty of success
Henry p. Wells in Harper's Magazine